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Corner Gas: Outstanding Canadian Comedy

Started by Hemorrhoid Shark, January 05, 2006, 02:56:41 PM

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Hemorrhoid Shark

I can't seem to find any previous mention of this show round these parts, so... has anybody here heard of Corner Gas? It's a relatively recent Canadian sitcom  about life in a small rural town, and it's absolutely brilliant.

I doubt it'll be well known around here, since nobody outside of Canada seems to have even heard of it. A Canadian friend of mine first put me on to it a few months ago, so I  decided to "acquire" the first series. I was so impressed that I immediately sought out Series 2.

In short: It's one of the finest sitcoms I've seen in ages, and completely free from the cliched characters and situations you'd expect in a sitcom about a rural community. The dialogue is utterly fantastic, the characters are all incedibly likeable and some of the plots (if you can call them that) are brilliantly crafted. It's been likned to a small-town Canadian version of Seinfeld, and I'd say that's a pretty accurate description.

Episode 14 of Season 2 in particular made me laugh more than anything else I've seen recently, featuring some of the tightest plotting and cleverest dialogue since Fawlty Towers. I don't compare things to Fawlty Towers often, mind, but I'd say this show deserves it. It really does show up what a dire state our own comedy is in that we have nothing that even comes close to this quality.

I really, really urge everyone here to give it a go. Barring a miracle, it'll never be shown on these shores in a million years, but I believe it's available on a couple of torrent sites. I don't often rave about TV shows like this, but I cannot recommend it enough. Frankly, it's an absolute fucking disgrace that a show of this quality isn't more well-known.

I absolutely love this little series. If anybody else has seen any of it, I'd love to know what you think...

thewomb

I'm downloading episode 301 now having just heard about it. Is it anywhere near as good as Trailer Park Boys?

Pinball

Well you bunch of pirates won't care ;-) ...... but you can get the first 2 series from the Canadian site dv-depot.com here.

Trailer Park Boys is one of my favourite shows, along with Kath & Kim. So refreshing to see something different!  I don't want to overly denigrate US stuff, because some of it is great, but by jingo the vast majority of their shows are shite. Ditto for sci-fi, which is so voluminous and generally awful that it's almost killed my interest in sci-fi!  They're so formulaic that they make the word formula appear formulaically deficient. Strong white female, strong while male, strong oriental/black/Indian, cowardly white male, sexy but smart white female, weird alien/robot. Same stories again and again.

Oh, and since when did the word "series" cease to exist? Season this, season that, smattered with mispronunciation of Ir-ackkkkkkkk..

But back to Corner Gas, I'm gonna check it ahhht tonight :-)

Any other great Canadian shows we should be looking out for??

JCBillington

Quote from: "Pinball"Oh, and since when did the word "series" cease to exist? Season this, season that,

I think in the US, 'Series' refers to the show itself, whilst 'Season' refers to a specific run.

Was the term 'season' ever used in the UK in the days of 13/26 week runs? Doctor Who fans often use the term season, don't they?

splattermac

Thanks for the recommendation. Like Pinball I'm also hoping for another Trailer Park Boys pay off. Pirate Bay has the first series of Corner Gas so I'm grabbing a sample episode.

Ah wonderful TPB, I could watch an inebriated scheming Mr Lahey talking shit (blizzards, puppets, moths - I was cackling away at series five's shit moths and shitterpillars - lines, hawks, ropes, apples etc) for hours! :D

slim

Thanks for the recommendation. I've liked what Canadian comedy I've seen so far so I'll definitely be checking this out.

If it's shit, I'll come get you.


Slim would also like it to be another magic find like TPB.

Pinball

Quote from: "splattermac"Thanks for the recommendation. Like Pinball I'm also hoping for another Trailer Park Boys pay off. Pirate Bay has the first series of Corner Gas so I'm grabbing a sample episode.

Ah wonderful TPB, I could watch an inebriated scheming Mr Lahey talking shit (blizzards, puppets, moths - I was cackling away at series five's shit moths and shitterpillars - lines, hawks, ropes, apples etc) for hours! :D
"We're just shit puppets in a shit play"

Truer words were never said :-)

Hemorrhoid Shark

Quote from: "thewomb"I'm downloading episode 301 now having just heard about it. Is it anywhere near as good as Trailer Park Boys?

Oddly enough, I've never seen any Trailer Park Boys, though from what I've heard of it, I'd say it's quite different. For one thing, Corner Gas is a very family-friendly show. That's not to say it's sugar-coated twaddle in any way; it just relies more on likeable characters and witty dialogue than shock value. Not that I'm accusing TPB of that, of course :)

Corner Gas is the absolute opposite to the "dark" comedy trend, too, which suits me just fine. I couldn't imagine a lighter, more uplifting show. It reminds me of the way our comedy used to be, before this "dark", "edgy" bollocks took over.

Quote from: "slim"If it's shit, I'll come get you.

I'll remember to flee to Canada if that happens ;)

Bogey

Just watched the first couple of episodes of this, and I liked it a lot.
It is light and airy, as you say. Refreshingly gentle.
The humour's very dry, but the whole thing I found very charming indeed.
Oh, and it's funny too.

Thanks, Hemorrhoid Shark!

Pinball

My PC is groaning under the pressure of torrenting all 3 series... allegedly. I hugely look forward to watching this!

Yes, I too am sick to death of the edgy ultra-repetitive shite that passes for comedy currently in the UK. That said, Kennedy's ethanol confession did remind me of the MP in Little Britain who makes a statement to the press every episode :-)

I think I'm going to phone my mum tonight and make an unreserved apology, thanking her for all her support over the years, without which I could never have survived. I haven't decided what I'll apologise for yet, but it's gonna have to be juicy....

Al Tha Funkee Homosapien

I only managed to download 3x01 at the moment, but I quite enjoyed it. I wouldn't call it 'brilliant' (though my opinion could change) but it's pretty gentle although quite dry humour. I especially liked the bloke who takes everything literally though I'm not sure if he's a regular character.

Hemorrhoid Shark

Quote from: "Bogey"Just watched the first couple of episodes of this, and I liked it a lot.
It is light and airy, as you say. Refreshingly gentle.
The humour's very dry, but the whole thing I found very charming indeed.
Oh, and it's funny too.

Thanks, Hemorrhoid Shark!

Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it.

You're right, "charming" is definitely the word for it. Episode 103, where Oscar builds his own coffin, is one of my favourites. The thing is, if the same show were being made over here, it would probably have all sorts of moody lighting and jam-style effects to make it all dark and subversive, but it's just perfect as it is. Pure, unashamed comedy.

Oh, and I've just seen episode 301 myself, and though it has its moments, it's nowhere near as funny as most of the other episodes I've seen. Ideally you should start with the first few episodes of Season 1, since that's when you get to know most of the characters' quirks.

Can't wait to see what the rest of you think. Give it a shot... After all, it can't be much worse than our recent comedy output, can it? ;)

ffogems

I enjoyed it, in a non-laugh-out-loud-but-I-like-the-ideas kind of way. The protagonists' father was the most amusing I thought, and I get the Seinfeld comparison as a lot of the conceits and observations come from something relatable and 'real' but appear as though they've been given some thought before being included.
Not sure if I'll go any further with it as it seemed a bit hollow at times, but it certainly isn't bad.
Oh, and I recognised the mother from an episode of Lexx, so that was nice.

thewomb

I just watched 301. Not as hilarious as I'd hoped for, but it got increasingly funnier throughout the episode, and I'm going to go with my hunch that this will continue throughout future shows as I get to know the characters more. And there were several laugh-out loud funny moments, most notably, "Hold my monkey".

splattermac

Just a bump to say thanks for the recommendation. The first series started to lose me about half way through but after a break of a couple of weeks I found I wanted more of it's gentle humour and I'm now on series two.

The yokels like Hank, Davis and Oscar lay it on with a trowel but work well with the counterbalance of Brent, Wanda and Lacey. Slapstick v City wit in Saskatchewan :) ta


Brutus Beefcake

Canadian comedy begins and ends with Terrance and Philip.

Tom Hedonist

I like this show a lot. I've watched virtually all of them - I know I missed one or two of series 2. When the tv rips rips were released they weren't complete and now I can't remember which I've seen and which I haven't.

For me Corner Gas is far more "smiley" than rolling-round-on-the-floor-in-fits-of-laughter funny. If you're looking for something along the lines of TPB, I think you'll be let down. But that's not to say the show isn't worth watching.

On a side note, has anyone ever seen any of Brent Butt's standup? I have a vague idea of seeing him on one of the Montreal Comedy festival tv shows and quite liking him, but I don't remember any more than that (such as what sort of material he did, etc).

Pinball

I've got the complete set for series 1-3, now burned onto DVD and ready to watch. I'm really looking forward to this! I'm going to watch them in order from the beginning..

TTT

Don't suppose someone who downloaded them from mininova/demonoid/piratebay could seed episodes 1x06,1x07,1x11 for a bit please? I've been stuck at 90%+ on all of them for a few days.

Bogey

I've had to purge chunks and chunks of stuff from my HD onto CDRs while I wait for my DVD writer to turn up, so I would if I could. It's possible I might be able to get them back on in a few days if nobody else has the capability in the meantime though, so hang in there!

I knew I should've got another damn hard drive instead. I abhor optical media!

Pinball

I eat 300GB external Maxtor drives. It's getting ridiculous...

Bogey

Yeah, I'll probably pop down the shops for some fags and a couple of hundred gigabytes tomorrrow. Maybe I'll get a paper as well.

Ooh, 1998, gotta keep the useful-to-noone throwaway posts a' comin'!

TTT

Thanks if it was someone from here who started seeding, only need 1x06 now and someone just started seeding it.

Hemorrhoid Shark

Quote from: "splattermac"Just a bump to say thanks for the recommendation. The first series started to lose me about half way through but after a break of a couple of weeks I found I wanted more of it's gentle humour and I'm now on series two.

Quote from: "Tom Hedonist"I like this show a lot. I've watched virtually all of them - I know I missed one or two of series 2. When the tv rips rips were released they weren't complete and now I can't remember which I've seen and which I haven't.

Ahh, excellent. Again, I'm glad you enjoyed them. I love this little show. Incredibly witty, and the complete opposite of the "naturalistic" crap we're spoon-fed over here these days.

I'm looking forward to what you other guys (Pinball, TTT) think of it, as well as any others that might  be sampling its delights. I've just re-watched episode 214, and it still had me in hysterics the third time around.

Please don't kill me if you think it's shit

slim

Hee hee hee. I'm really glad you put me on to this. This tickled me greatly:

BRENT: How's the inventory going?
WANDA: I'm a little behind, thanks for dumping it on me.
BRENT: Delegating. I delegated.
WANDA: What's the difference between dumping and delegating?
BRENT: I'm not sure... Look it up for me.

:)

Pinball

Brent is a superb character, isn't he? I have all the episodes of this great series :-)

slim

Yeah, he certainly is. I noticed he writes and produces it so I'm guessing he gives himself some of the best lines. Not that it's a bad thing, just something I noticed.

Roger Byrne

Yeah, thanks for the recommendation, I've now watched about the first 10 of these and I'm loving it. I've ordered the series 2 DVD which only seems to be available through Amazon Canada, and the tracking tells me it's in the UK now so I should hopefully get it by the time I've finished series 1.

I'm not that far about the Seinfeld comparison that seems to be made everywhere - I can see the connection, but the characters in this are all prety likeable which seems the exact oppposite of Seinfeld.

My favourite moment so far was in the fishing episode when Hank came in and asked if they had any out of date milk he could take away.


TTT

The first episode of S04 is now available in the usual places. It was a nice surprise seeing it available as I didn't know another series was coming so soon.